It’s no secret that Alien 3 was a nightmare production, a film that it’s own director refuses to even discuss. While it may make for a fascinating topic for fans to learn about, that isn’t a sentiment that the people who experienced the trouble are likely to share.
Ralph Brown, Alien 3’s 85/Aaron, recently posted a very candid blog in which he recounts some of the issues he personally faced while working on Alien 3.
“The canteen sequence. Rewrites still coming in. An IRA attack on Downing Street provides a fitting backdrop. Sigourney is taking no prisoners today. First it’s the hair: “Your hair is too long Ralph, we should put some lice in it” Then an hour later it’s the costume: “How come Aaron gets to wear a nice clean shirt, while we’re all in dirty crap here?”
“It’s vanity pure and simple” says the deep Barnsley burr of Brian Glover. Thanks mate. “So the stupid Aaron 85 looks really cool then” says Sigourney. “Mr Normal”. She stonks off. I feel really weird now. All my paranoias confirmed ! I think she is anxious about having a shaved head, but she has successfully managed to dump her insecurity onto me.”
Brown talks about the difficulties he had with rewrites to Aaron and trying to discuss those changes with writers and producers Walter Hill and David Giler. He talks about selling out David Fincher to the pair, Sigourney Weaver’s hostile attitude on set and his misconceptions as to what was actually happening on the set. It’s a fascinating read! Head on over to Ralph Brown’s blog to read.
Thanks to Charles DeLauzarika for sharing the link.
"if I'd known about ADR in Pinewood I would never have done 34 takes just for a vocal inflection..."
Hoo, boy...
Great timewarp of an article.
They really struggled with opening Alien 3. I don't get why. I really don't. Aliens made it seem so easy by comparison.
Well, lack of an airlock. You can't just "blow the f*cker out into space."
Found this article a while back. Seems weaver just wanted Ripley to die and end the series. She says in the article that playing an alien movie is like giving birth.
Form this article it seems Twohy was instructed by fox to write Ripley into the story.
As for the OP link article I like what Fincher said about fox being 18th century fox.
And thanks for the article OP was a nice read.
"...no!"
"Pour the lead."
So much angst from the actual Sigourney poured into her deliveries.
Speaking of Pinewood, I was watching Last Crusade just now and somehow someone nicked the spiral staircase from the Venice library at Elstree and used it in Alien 3.
If anyone wants it now they'll need to talk to Lance Henriksen.
Or it might not.
Either way, it was a dumb guy thing to say.
This is the Schrodinger's Cat of movies lol. Is he alive, is he dead? lol
He had my sympathy until he said this.
Originally it was him who held the creature inside the mold so Ripley could get out, not Dillon. He was probably referring to that.
Makes about as much sense as the final film.
Does he admit that it makes no sense?
Fasano has a passage detailing blood stains in Newt's cryotube.
One thing I didn't appreciate until I was watching some of Alien 3 on TV the other night, was how many scenes Ralph Brown had to do with just Weaver or Weaver and one or two others. Can't have been comfortable for someone who's being hostile (whatever the reasons for that were) coupled with the filmmakers not being able to decide what you're character is supposed to be.
Begs the question why Fox didn't just let him go in the first place, but maybe they were hedging their bets.
I remember reading that the studio's told Twohy that he was writing for 3 and then when Ward came on board, they changed and said, whoever had their script finished first would be 3 and the second one would be 4 lol. Then he heard nothing once he handed it in, so took the money and ran lol
To be fair, Ward's "writing it in" consists of little more than Ripley arriving on the planet, already alone, and saying, "Yeah, they died," which to me is hardly more conclusive than Red and Twohy offing them all before the story starts. Although I guess to be fair it's more implied with them.
Eric Red's featured a ghost ship Sulaco if that counts as killing off the crew, but Ward was the first to step forward and say he wanted Newt dead (she annoyed him), so he wrote it in.
No, that's all I managed at the time. I was researching his script and got sidetracked... I'm still sidetracked
Thanks! Did you ask if he had his WIP 2nd draft still?
Well it was his story that eventually evolved into the film, but he wasn't the first to do it.
I still was a stupid idea and it took like 20 years for somebody to come along and attempt to retcon it canonically.
Here we are, for you and SM:
Spoiler
You'd be surprised to see how people react 12 weeks confined together
It's probably the greatest miracle / hell cinema is capable of producing.
Ain't nothing to share 10 hours a day in a 5 meters² set with someone who hasn't brush his tooth.
Then add a bit of ego, disappointing pay, last minute change, disgusting food of the day, horrible hotel, social group differences, shake it very hard and voilà !
It's hard to forget something happens behind the camera
Please do. I can't recall really seeing Twohy talk too much about his time on the production.
It really does, doesn't it? It'd be pretty funny is everyone's issues with her came down to not understanding her sense of humour. So many people go on about how lovely a woman she is that it seems almost out of character for these complaints.
I corrected my post, it was filled with quick phone typos. Is it the special or extended or exterminated version? The longer version. With the dog alien chestburster that comes out of a bull and the beehive under the stairs.
lol, why?
Really should be a mandatory inclusion in any Alien 3-related thread.
Is there an extended version that has less nutcases screaming?
It mostly helps somewhat, actually, leastly. Lestly? Leastly? What Is that the opposite of mostly?
Cheers. I figured you'd know how it went down.
Oh, I agree. I just think the opinion that an Alien movie can't be suspenseful if the characters have guns is silly. Hell, Aliens is one of the most suspenseful movies I've ever seen. Like Roger Ebert said in his review of it:
Alien 3, on the other hand, lacked any suspense at all.
Weaver first came onboard when Twohy was writing his script. He was asked to rewrite his screenplay with Ripley as the lead and met Sigourney to get her ideas. But a spanner was thrown into the works when the director Renny Harlin walked because he didn't want to do the 'prison ship' idea Twohy had. Brandywine found Vincent Ward, and when Ward came onboard he wanted to write the script, so Twohy was let go.
That's the story as I've been able to ascertain. I have an e-mail from Twohy where he talked about meeting Weaver to put the Ripley character into the prison ship scenario. I'll try and dig it out.
His multiple deaths were interesting to read about, poor 85.
No wonder there's so many F-words in the film!
They my not have been well-known in the States, but there are quite a few famous British faces in there. Guys like Pete Postlethwaite and Paul McGann have been in tons of things here.
Gibson's first script is over-the-top Aliens fan-wank in the worst possible way. His second attempt, where he basically takes away all the guns and shooting, is infinitely superior.
Fair enough. Admittedly I've no idea what came first, the script or the actress, just thinking out loud.
She bad.
On another note, I don't think the character of Aaron is at all brought down by his lack of intelligence and I never saw him as comic relief. He's less aggressive but he gets tense and scared so I'm not sure where the comedy really is there with that character. I like that he's less intelligent as that's a key part of his character and it makes a point that he's one of the last ones to survive and only doesn't because he bravely sacrificed himself.
BishopShouldGo -
Were the actors not "no-names" I don't think it would have worked nearly as well as you'd lose immersion.
Xenomorphine -
I think 'Alien 3' being set on a planet makes it more interesting... well not necessarily a planet but the planet. Firstly, I think it could have come across as a lesser version of the original were it set on a spaceship; and secondly, putting your thoughts on the overall quality aside, do you not think the set design of the film is great? Something I like about the 'Alien' franchise is that each film has a different tone and feel while still feeling like part of the same story (which is one problem of 'Prometheus' - it doesn't have that feel). I think 'Alien 3' looks great and I really like the prison concept it went with.
Scorpio -
Not to disagree but that scene does have the advantage of being longer. The motion tracker distance countdown scene is suspenseful. As is actually, the chase scene towards the end (the Queen chasing Ripley). And actually, the scene where the marines first enter the hive.
^ See this is why I disagree with the comment some people make that 'Aliens' is just a shoot-em-up with explosions and stuff. Aliens are killed but there is a load of suspense in that film.
Yeah but I'm talking about sequence of events. Brandywine may have asked Ward to pitch without a commitment from Weaver, then she committed after hearing what they were thinking of doing. Maybe.